Infectious disease, 1982. State of the Art.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L Weinstein.
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The developing fetus is often subjected to the influence of various drugs ingested by the mother during gestation. Currently, caffeine is one of the more common drugs used by the pregnant patient. It is important that the patient be made aware that caffeine is a drug and that it may cause potential harm to the fetus. Until more scientific data are available, it is our recommendation that moderate to excessive use of caffeine during pregnancy be curtailed and that mild use be decided on an individual basis.
Forearm plethysmography affords a simple noninvasive method of studying dynamic changes in the microcirculation. This technic was used to study the peripheral circulation of normotensive nongravid women and normotensive and untreated hypertensive pregnant women during the third trimester. The variables of forearm blood flow, vascular resistance, venous capacitance, and capillary filtration coefficient were measured in the resting state and during and after exercise. The pregnant women demonstrated an increase in forearm blood flow over the nonpregnant women. As expected, vascular resistance was higher in the hypertensive pregnant patients than in normotensive pregnant women. The possible predictive value of these findings is discussed.
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A rabbit serum fraction was prepared which contained antibody specific for unique antigen(s) found in human condylomata acuminata tissue but not in other human papillomatous or normal tissues. Indirect immunofluorescent staining of cryostat sections of human tissues demonstrated an intense nuclear fluorescence in cells of the prickle cell layer of condylomata acuminata sections. Nuclear fluorescence was not apparent in cells in the basal or dermal layers. The serum fraction did not elicit nuclear fluorescence in epithelial cells of tissue from human vulva, human foreskin, juvenile hand wart, plantar wart, or squamous cell papilloma of the cervix. This demonstration of antigens unique to epithelial cells of condylomata acuminata may prove useful in the often difficult diagnosis of cervical condylomata.
A 48-yr-old man with profuse diarrhea for about 9 mo was found to have intestinal cryptosporidiosis. Treatment with antibacterial, antimalarial, and other antiprotozoal agents failed to control the disease. The organisms were identified by light and electron microscopy in a biopsy specimen from the duodenum. Disseminated infection with cytomegalovirus developed during treatment, and the patient died. Five other instances of intestinal cryptosporidiosis have been reported. Immunologic incompetence, related to either disease or therapy, or both, was present in 4 cases but, although suspected, could not be proved in the patient described in this paper.
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As practitioners in obstetrics, we must always concern ourselves with supplying the best care for the mother and her newborn infant. Our concern for good health for both patients must extend beyond the delivery room and the early puerperium. Currently, a large proportion of our patients are electing to bottle-feed and we are losing a valuable natural resource--breast milk. It is important that the patient be educated in the advantages and techniques of breast-feeding and that all false rumors be dispelled.
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Cryptococcal meningitis and a cerebral cryptococcoma developed in a patient with pulmonary cryptococcosis ("coin lesion") shortly after infected area of lung was removed. Treatment with amphotericin B and flucytosine failed to clear the organisms and antigen from the spinal fluid or alter the neurologic manifestations related to the cerebral lesion. Therapy with miconazole cured the meningitis and led to disappearance of the lesion in the brain (serial computed tomographic scan). Study of the patient over the next 5 years disclosed no evidence of relapse of infection and completely normal findings on neurologic examination.
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The results of 3 years of developing the collagen sponge as an intravaginal contraceptive are presented. Postcoital tests were used to evaluate the efficacy of the sponge as a mechanical barrier. Results with the collagen sponge alone were compared to those of the sponge with spermicidal cream or spermicidal solution (acid buffer and zinc) and of spermicidal cream alone. The presence of any motile spermatozoa in the cervical mucus was considered a failure of the barrier method. The collagen sponge alone or with acid and zinc and spermicidal cream alone had failure rates of 22, 20, and 14%, respectively, whereas the collagen sponge with spermicidal cream had a 6% failure rate. The authors conclude that the combination of a mechanical and a chemical barrier is a more effective contraceptive method than a mechanical barrier or chemical agent alone.
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Bivalent influenza vaccine (containing antigens A/Victoria and A/New Jersey) was administered to 52 patients with hematologic malignancies, and pre- and postvaccination antibody titers to both antigens were determined by hemagglutination-inhibition. In comparison to healthy controls, mean antibody titer elevations were lower for both antigens in all disease groups, being significant (p less than 0.05) for A/Victoria in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute leukemia and lymphoproliferative diseases, and for A/New Jersey in patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. In comparison to controls, significant depression of antibody response to both antigens was seen in patients on combination chemotherapy (p less than 0.0005), to a lesser extent in patients on daily single alkylating agent chemotherapy (p less than 0.05), while untreated patients did not differ significantly. Lymphopenia and depressed immunoglobulin levels were associated with a higher failure rate in eliciting "protective" greater than or equal to fourfold antibody titer increases. The findings suggest that patients with hematologic malignancies who are receiving chemotherapy at the time of vaccination are unlikely to attain seroconversion to protective antibody levels with influenza vaccine.